Substitute for ball for indoor golf.



A. SARGENT.v

SUBSTITUTE FOR BALL FORJNDOOR GOLF. APPLICATION FlLED FEB.23.19|8.

1,293,941, I Patented Feb. 11, 191%}.

INVENTOR L w I PM ATTORNEYS ALLSTON SARGENT, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 HARRIETT A. SARGENT, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SUBSTITUTE FOR BALL FOR INDOOR GOLF.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

Application filed February 23, 1918. Serial No. 218,635.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLs'roN SARGENT, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at East Orange, Essex county, New

Jersey, have invented a new and useful Substitute for Balls for Indoor Golf, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and 1mproved device for encouraging the 1n door practice of golf. and comprises a substitute for the golf ball so constructed and arranged that it may be easily seen in the act of addressing the ball. The device may be cheaply manufactured and packed in smallspace. In the preferred form each device can be used a number of times thereby greatly reducing the expense. The invention will be understood by reference to the following description and the accompanylng drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the blank before it is folded up ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device ready for use.

Fig. 3 is a view of the rear side showing one method of interlocking the ends of the blank when bent into operative form.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the golf club head.

In the preferred form shown in the draw ings, the substitute for the golf ball is made of comparatively thin paste-board which may be printed and packed in flat form, as shown in Fig. 1, the ends being arranged to interlock and the intermediate parts bearing an imprint or design patterned after a target, which when hit by the club head will record the degre of accuracy with which the ball is struck.

Referring to Fig. 1, 12 represent the ends of the blank, one of which may have a tongue 3 and the other a slot a whereby said ends may be interlocked when the blank is bent into the shape shown in Fig. 2. 5-6 represent target sections. 7-8-9 represent the lines upon which the blank is bent so that when the article is formed up as shownv case of a wooden club a smal pin may be driven into the center of the striking face,

being conventionally shown in Fig. 4, in which 10 represents the club head and 11 the nail or pin. Each target section may be suitably marked. In the present instance, the center or bulls-eye is marked 200 yards. The ring around the bulls-eye is marked 100 yards. The upper part of each target section above the 100 yards mark may be marked 50 yards. At the right of each target section the word Bunker may be printed and at the left the word Rough may be printed. This marking is, of course, arbitrary and may be modified at will. However, it is apparent that if the club hits the target in the center, the pin will penetrate the bulls-eye which will indicate that the ball has been hit with great accuracy. If the pin punctures the target in the 100 yards zone, the ball is hit with lesser accuracy, and if the puncture occurs in the 50 yards zone, the ball will be hit with still less accuracy. If the driver overreaches and punctures the bunker zone that fact will be indicated. So also if the driver swings short so as to puncture the rough zone, that fact will also be indicated. By employing arbitrary markings such as above indicated, not only can a user employ the device for individual practice, but two players can actually make up a game of exceeding interest.

It should be understood that the particular method of holding the device in that form necessary to present the targets to the face of the club and also so as to form a proper base upon which the device will remain in an upright position on the floor, may be modified at will. So also the material of which the device is made may be modified so long as it is comparatively cheap and light and susceptible of being easily packed in a small space.

The upper and lower edges of the sheet may be cut in or scalloped to give a better definition to the targets to more closely approximate the outline of the ball.

It will be noted that the device when positioned on the floor read 1 to be struck can be easily located by the eye by reason of the fact that although the target itself stands on edge relatively to the line of vision, the backing formed by the fold always stands at an angle relatively to the face and thus furnishes something upon which the eye can become fastened for the purpose of mental concentration essential to the carrying out of the shot. The fold forming the backing may be modified in'a variety of ways, although the form shown has proven to be highly satisfactory and is preferrec. So also the method of interlocking the ends of the folded material may be modified, indeed, in some cases the interlocking of the ends may be entirely omitted.

I claim:

1. In a device to assist in the practice of golf, a substitute for a golf ball comprising comparatively thin sheet material having a plurality of targets thereon, said device being foldable to cause said targets to be arranged in planes at different angles, said device when folded furnishing a base arranged to rest upon the floor in such a manner as to cause said targets to stand in a substantially upright position relatively to the floor.

2. In a device to assist in the practice of golf, a substitute for a golf ball comprising comparatively thin sheet material bent on vertical lines to cause the lower ,edge to form a base arranged to rest upon the floor in such a manner as to cause said material to be positioned edgewise thereto, and to present striking faces at different angles relatively to the axis of the device to receive the imprint of a club head.

3. In a device to assist in the practice of golf, a substitute for a golf ball compris- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ing comparatively thin sheet material bent on vertical lines to cause the lower edge to form a base arranged to rest upon the floor in such a manner'as to cause said material to be positioned edgewise thereto, and to present striking faces at different angles relatively to the axis of the device to receive the imprint of a club head, said device including a plurality of target sections with target markings on each of said sections.

4c. In a device to assist in the practice of golf, a substitute for a golf ball comprising comparatively thin sheet material having a plurality of targets delineated thereon, the upper and lower edges of said sheet being scalloped to partially add to the delineation of said targets, said sheet being foldable to position said targets in difierent planes, and to cause the edges of said folded sheet to form a base to rest upon the floor and to support said device with the targets in an upright position ready to receive the blow of the club head.

5. In a device to assist in the practice of golf, a substitute for a golf ball comprising a target face formed of comparatively thin sheet material arranged to rest edgewise on the floor, a rearward extension from one side edge thereof also arranged to rest edgewise on the floor and to cooperate with said target face to support the latter in a substantially vertical plane.

ALLSTON SARGEN'L- of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

